*** Viewing Gallery. Outer Ring * SB Unity. ***
It was late afternoon and Rangi was running late, something
that she hated to do.She was walking fast along the
seemingly endless corridor that skirted the outer ring of
the starbase.
View ports to her right faced away from the planet and,
until recently, had shown space with occasional traffic
approaching Unity.
Now though there was a shipyard, or part of it, to be seen
at a relatively close distance.
Rangi took no notice of it as she hurried along, a small
frown clouding her face.
She had arrived for her appointemnt with Stephen Jacobs in
good time, only to learn that he was not in the counselling
suite but was waiting for her in the viewing gallery of the
outer ring.
" Is he joking?" she asked looking and sounding exasperated.
" Oh no Ma'am, I'm sure he's not." came the yoemans polite
reply.
Rangis lips drew a straight line of displeasure. It would
take a good twenty minutes to get to the section and she
would be late. She would have gone straight there had she
known.
"Thankyou." she said curtly,turned away and headed for the
nearest lift.
++
Now at last she saw her quarry and slowed slightly,giving
herself time to regain her composure. He was sitting partly
turned away from her, gazing out of the viewport.
She took a deep breath and walked foward.
" Commander Jacobs." she said.
He turned his head at the sound of her voice and got to his
feet saying."Ah, Commander Summers."
"I'm sorry I'm late. I didnt know our appointment place had
changed." Rangi said.
"Why dont you sit down." he replied in a matter of fact
tone, entirely dimissing her comment and giving no
explanation or apology of his own.
He resumed his seat without waiting for her to sit down and
turned his attention to the window which had a good view of
the shipyard and its ongoing reconstruction.
Rangi sat down on the seat next but one from his, placed her
shoulder bag at her feet and folded her hands on her lap.
Stephen said nothing and the seconds began to tick by.
Rangi glanced around.
The gallery was almost empty, for the best views were of the
planet, on the opposite side of the Ring and fewer people
visited this area.
A couple walked past hand in hand talking quietly to each
other.
There was a distant 'hummmm' which Rangi narrowed down to
the replicator on the far wall. It was obviously in need of
attention.
A group of potted plants stood in a pleasing group opposite
to her but a low table placed between comfortable seats
nearby, was littered with empty mugs which someone had not
bothered to clear.
She looked back at Stephen and sighed to herself.He was
seemingly concentrating on the activity in the shipyard, for
his gaze didnt waver from it.
Her eyes moved from the part of his face she could see to
the well worn jacket he wore,to the long strong fingers
resting on his knee, the faded jeans and the shabby shoes in
need of a good polish.
She tapped her thumb on the back of her folded hand,
wondering how much longer they were to sit in silence.
" I thought you wanted to talk about my father." she said,
watching his face again. He looked at her with an expression
of mild surprise.
"Did you?" he asked.
"Yes. At least that's what you said last time we met."
He nodded slowly, as though recalling it then asked:
"What do you think to the shipyard?" and looked back towards
it.
For the second time in less than an hour, Rangis lips
compressed into a straight line.
"No doubt it will be very useful." she said shortly.
"Useful?" he repeated, looking back at her.
She wondered why he wanted to discuss the shipyard,
something that didnt feature highly in her interest,
although Shane had talked about it quite a bit.
"Yes" she said. "When its in full working order it will be
extrememly useful...ships won't have to travel so far for
repairs."
He shifted on his seat and turned to face her fully.
"Why did you apologise?" he asked in his calm slightly slow
voice.
She was caught off guard and took a second to realise he
meant her on her arrival.
" Because I don't like being late." she answered.
" And you don't want to talk about the shipyard." he stated.
"Not particularly...no." Rangi agreed.
" So what would you like to talk about?" he asked.
She looked into his brown eyes that held, she was sure,
amusement. Her head mover slightly to one side so that for a
moment she considered him almost sideways on from the corner
of her eyes.
" Are you trying to annoy me?" she asked, with growing
certainty that for some reason he was.
"Why would I want to do that?" he asked.
" I'm not sure." she replied meeting his gaze fully again. "
We arranged a meeting in your room which you changed without
telling me...you dragged me half way round the base to
discuss a shipyard instead of the subject you'd previously
mentioned...and now you ask me why I apologise for being
late."
"Are you annoyed?" he said.
Rangi held back her responce as they looked at each other
and after a moment, gave a short shake of her head.
" No." she said, realizing that if he had asked a minute
before the answer might have been yes.
Again she was certain there was hidden amusement in the
brown eyes and she broke the gaze looking now at the
battered satchel he always seemed to carry. Despite herself
she couldnt hold back a smile because suddenly the whole
situation seemed so ridiculous.
" No I'm not." she said looking back at him and saw she was
correct and that his amusement was indeed real.
Her attention was caught by a movement and she looked past
him through the viewing wall towards the shipyard that had
held his interest for so long.
" What is 'that'?" she said.
Her obvious surprise caused Stephen to turn.
" Well, well well...." he murmured.
The space between the base and shipyard was distorting,
shimmering almost as a steel grey ship began to de-cloak.
There were no alerts, so security must have expected it, yet
the sudden appearance was a bit disconcerting.
" U S S Detector." Stephen said, reading the markings. " So
that's where she's been."
He looked back at Rangi and smiled,something that gave her
another surprise, for it was unexpected and unknown until
now.
He stood up, slinging the battered satchel over his
shoulder.
" I need to get moving." he said and Rangi too got to her
feet, clutching her own shoulder bag. " I'll walk you to the
turbolift." he said.
They set of together in the way that Rangi had come and she
told herself that she must get used to these strange
counselling sessions.
They had gone quite a distance before Stephen spoke.
" I met your father." he said moving along with his easy
long strides.
Rangi looked up at him quickly.
"Did you?" she asked.
He looked down into her eager face. " I just said so." he
replied.
They walked on side by side.
She couldnt resist it and had to ask:
" When?"
" A few years ago. " he said. " We were at conventions and
ended up sharing a table one evening with a few others."
Rangi didnt reply.
It was so unexpected to meet anyone who had known her father
and she found it a sweet moment.
She missed him and knew she always would ,even though the
sting of his sudden death had disappeared. She wished
sometimes that he could have met little Martin so that she
could have seen them together, so that he would have had the
pleasure of time spent with his grandson.
They walked on in silence and Stephen looked down at her
knowing that he had begun a train of thought and guessing,
correctly as it turned out, what those thoughts were.
" I liked him." he said simply and Rangi turned her head
again to look up at him.
She smiled as she said : " Me too."
*** End Log ***
Commander Rangi Summers
Med Adv 1st TF
CMO
SB Unity.
&
Commander Stephen Jacobs
Senior Counsellor
SB Unity
